Lamp holder for double-ended discharge lamps



June 21, 1949. a. c. WEBSTER LAMP HOLDER FOR DOUBLE-ENDED DISCHARGE LAMPS Filed March 15, 1945 23 INVENTOR fianjamz'nC Wfis fen WITNESSES:

ATT NEY Patented June 21, 1949 UNI T D' STAT S LAMP HOLDER FOR DOUBLE-ENDED DISCHARGE LAMPS Benjamin C. Webster, Fairfield, I Conn, assignor, -tofjThc Bryant Electric, Company, Bridgeport, Conn a corporation of Connecticut Application March 15, 1945; Serial No. 582,858

5 Claims. (Cl. 173 -328),

My invention relates, generally,.to.lam'p holders and, more particularly, to..lamp. holders of the locking type for use with doubleended electric discharge lamps for preventing the lamp from becoming aecidentallydisengaged from the holder.

The object of, my invention, generally stated, is to, provide a l'ampholderof the lamp-locking type which is of simpleandeconomical construction and which shalhfunction to prevent a lamp frornflbecoming accidentally[disengaged from the holder for any reason A morespecific object. .of, my invention. is to provide a lamp holder of the, character described whereinan L-shaped lever member is mounted uponthe housing portionof. the holder-for rotational movement into and. .out, of. a lamp-locking position.

A further object of my invention is to provide,

a lamp holder of the character described wherein the L-shaped lever member is mounted for rotational movement on the. longitudinal axis of vthe housing portion of theholder between the ends thereof.

Another object ofmy invention is to provide a.

lamp holder of the character described wherein the lever member isnormally biased, to a locking position and movable to unlocking position against the force, of the biasing means.

A still further. object of my. invention is to pro- 7 holder embodying the principal features of myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side View, in elevation and partly in section, of the holder of Fig. 1 showing the lever member in its locking position with respect tothe lamp;

Fig. 3 is a rear view in elevation of the holder of Fig. 1 wherein the lever member is shown in both its locking and unlocking positions;

Fig. 4 is a sideviewin elevation of the lever member;

Fig. 5 is a front view in elevation of the lever member;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the lever member;

Figs. 7 and 8 are side and end views, respectiveto. Figs. 1, 2, and 3, there. is shown a lamp holder ly, of .the stud member on which ,thelever member.

ismounted and Figs. 9 andlO areside; and-end views, respectively, of the biasing spring.

Referring now .to the drawing and, particularly,

of the lamp-locking -ty pe, constructed in accord ance with a preferred embodiment-of my invention The holder comprises, generally, a housing;- member ill, a pair of. contact fingers H andlZ,

mountedtherein and a lever member l3.

The housing may be ofthe shell type having a,

base portionM and arecess 5,,as shown in-Fig. 2,

for receiving .thefcontactIfingers .l I and 12. The, recesslfi is covered, by...a back plate,l6 shown in.

Fig. 3.

The contact fingers .l l and! 2 may bemounted, within thev housing in] any suitable ,manner and have their free ends disposed in the recess 15;

cooperative relation with a .slo t, l'l formed, in the face of the housing, as shown best in Fig. l. The slot ll has an entrance ,portion l8.through which the contact pins IQ of. the lamp 20 are inserted one after the other, when the lamp is beingmounted in the holder, The slot i1 also has a straight portion 2| and a circular portion 22; throughwhich the lamppins I9 move when the lamp' is rotated into contact-making position withthe fingers H and I2. As shown in Fi 1, the' lamp 2%) is in its normal. position with its contact pins l9 engaging the contact fingers.

In this embodiment of the invention, the levermember [3 constitutes the lamp-locking element ofthe holder. The lever member. I3 is preferably. formed of flat sprin material, as shown best in. Figs. 4 and 5, and comprises a flatlshankportionl 23 and a bent-overend portion. 24. The shank portion 22 is provided with anopeningZBadjacent its. free end which'is utilized to mount the lever member. upon the housing.

The lever member l3; may be attached to the housing H! in, any. suitable manner, such as by means of a stud member 26 riveted therein shown at 26a. The housing isprovided with an-v opening Zlintermediate its ends for receiving the stud member 26. The opening 21 extends from,

the front to the back of the housing, and its back portion is enlarged, as indicatedat ZB. As shown best in Fig. 2, the lever. member I3 is positioned, with its flat shank portion 23 against the back of I the housing, and the bent-overportion 24 extends, forwardly toward the,faceof,the housing so as to beneathornover thebaseof the lamp when-in:

alocking position, as shown-in Fig.2.

I- h s n t provi ion :15 ad io n r ally biasing the lever member l3 to its locking position. This is effected by means of a coil spring 30 mounted within the enlarged portion 28 of the opening 21 about the stud member 26, as shown in Fig. 2. In order to limit the movements of the lever member, the rim of the housing is cut away at 32 to provide stops 33 and 34, as shown in Fig. 3. The stop 33 limits the movement of the lever member 13 out of the locking position, and stop 34 determines the position of the lever member when it is biased to its locking position.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the bent-over portion 24 of the lever member is provided with integral finger tabs 35 for the purpose of actuating it to its locking and unlocking positions.

It will be apparent when the locking lever 13 is in its locking position, as shown in Fig. 2, for example, the lamp 29 cannot become accidentally disengaged from the holder for the reason that the bent-over end portion 24 of the lever extends outwardly past the face of the housing in such position as to overlap with the base of the lamp. The bent-over portion 24 of the lever member may be curved transversely, as shown in Fig. 5, for example, so that when the lever is in locking position, the bent-over end portion engages or is closely adjacent to the base of the lamp.

In view of the foregoing, it will be understood that by means of this arrangement, the lamp is securely and positively locked within the holder, and that it may be readily removed by simply actuating the lever member I3 from the locking position against the force of the biasing spring 30. It will be understood further that the biasing spring functions to at all times maintain the lever member in its locking position, and that it is impossible to leave the lever member in an unlocking position when inserting or removing a lamp.

While in this embodiment of the invention, the lever member i3 has been shown as being normally biased to its locking position, it is apparent that this lever member may be utilized as a locking device without the use of the biasing spring. In this instance, the lever member would be retained in its locking position due to the engagement of its bent-over portion with the base of the lamp.

In view of the foregoing description of a, preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that I have provided a lamp holder of the locking type which shall effectively function to lock the lamp within the holder and which may be readily actuated to permit the removal of the lamp therefrom.

While I have disclosed a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lamp holder for use with double-ended discharge lamps having a plurality of contact pins at each end comprising, a housing having a slot in one end thereof to receive the contact pins of the lamp, a plurality of contact fingers mounted therein in cooperative relation with the slot, an L-shaped lever member rotatably mounted upon the back face of the housing for movement in a plane substantially parallel to said back face of the housing to and from a locking position, said housing having stop means disposed to stop said lever member in its locking position, said lever member having a. bent-over end portion extending over the slotted end of the housing, and

spring means normally biasing said lever member to its locking position.

2. A lamp holder for use with double-ended discharge lamps having a plurality of contact pins at each end comprising, a housing having a slot in one end thereof to receive the contact pins of the lamp, said housing having a shallow recess in the back face thereof a plurality of contact fingers mounted therein in cooperative relation with the slot, and an L-shaped lever member rotatably mounted upon the back face of the housing on the longitudinal axis thereof for limited movement in said shallow recess between locking and unlocking positions with respect to the slotted end of the housing, said lever member having a fiat shank portion and a bent-over end portion extending in the direction of the front face of the housing, and spring means mounted within the housing normally biasing the lever member to its locking position.

3. A'lamp holder for use with double-ended discharge lamps having a plurality of contact pins at each end comprising, a housing having a slot in one end thereof to receive the contact pins of the lamp and a stop member on one face thereof, a plurality of contact fingers mounted therein in cooperative relation with the slot, said housing having an opening therethrough from front to back face on the longitudinal axis thereof, a stud member mounted in said opening, an L-shaped lever member mounted upon said stud member for rotational movement into and out of a locking relation with respect to the slotted end of the housing, said lever member being disposed to engage said stop member in its locking position, and a coil spring mounted on said stud member normally biasing the lever member to its locking position.

4. A lamp holder for use with double-ended discharge lamps having a plurality of contact pins at each end comprising, a housing having a slot in one end thereof to receive the contact pins of the lamp and spaced sto portions on the back face thereof, a plurality of contact fingers mounted therein in cooperative relation with the slot, said housing having an opening therethrough from front to back face intermediate its ends, a headed stud member mounted in said openin with its head portion at the back face of the housing, an L-shaped lever member rotatably mounted upon said stud for movement along the back face of the housing between locking and unlocking positions as defined by said stop portions, said lever member having a bent-over end portion extending over the slotted end of the housing, and a coil spring mounted on the stud member within the housing normally biasing the lever member to the locking position with the bent-over end portion thereof positioned adjacent shaped lever member rotatably mounted on the stud member on the back face of the housing, said lever member having a shank portion extending along the back face of the housing and a bent over end portion which obstructs the end slot in 5 6 the housing when moved thereover, said housing UNITED STATES PATENTS having a shoulder portion on the back face positioned to be engaged by the shank portion of the figzg iz g lever member when it is actuated into such posi- 2 119428 Englar 1938 tion that the bent over end portion obstructs the 5 2228646 summelis' Jan 1941 end slot 2,248,598 Yoder July 8, 1941 BENJAMIN WEBSTER- 2,254,222 Hubbell et al Sept. 2,1941 2,281,113 Sanford April 28, 1942 REFERENCES CITED 10 2,287,276 Runge June 23, 1942 The following references are of record in the 2,324,683 Despard July 20, 1943 file of this patent: 2,424,874 Beals July 29, 1947 

